Spiders.....

21.
Posted bysofe1978(Respected Member 126 posts) 10y
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Oh my gosh.. me too, that really really would be one of my worst nightmares. They would have heard me screaming back in the UK if that had been me

22.
Posted byleong1(Full Member 89 posts) 10y
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I've found this topic very good read. I have to admit that it did cross my mind, the spider thing, when i booked my trip to Oz. Im not scared of spiders but your right we get it all on TV. I did do alittle searching the net just to find out if there is any truth in what we've been told ( on UK TV ).

I came past this quote

"Two spiders should be avoided, the Sydney Funnel-web (Atrax robustus) and the Redback (Latrodectus hasselti) because their bites can be painful for some days.Are those two to be worried about? Since 1956 nobody died from a Redback bite and since 1980 nobody from a Sydney Funnel-web bite, mainly because of the development of an antivenom. A recent study by Isbister and Gray showed that the White-tail (Lampona species) spider bite is most probably harmless."

Im less worried now then before, But i still think you should keep your wits about you in general.

Just edited it to say that i dont think that the white-tail are deadly. Dont want to leave people with any new fears.

[ Edit: Edited on Jan 24, 2008, at 1:34 PM by leong1 ]

23.
Posted byurbanyte(Budding Member 2 posts) 10y
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do not worry,i live in melbourne, i havent seen a huntsman or a redback in months,the scariest spiders i come across are daddy longlegs, which i generally have rescue from my cat as she likes to pat them on the head with her paw (they dont usually survive the ordeal)

24.
Posted byjames(Travel Guru 4138 posts) 10y
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I picked a tennis ball out of my garden yesterday and I felt something on my hand and saw this mother of a spider crawling up my wrist. Scared the crap out of me - I made a scream that sounded ridiculous!

Still, it was a neglected part of my garden and I should have known better.

25.
Posted bytays(Budding Member 43 posts) 10y
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hey i got bit by a baby redback whilst in oz however i survived to live the tale. the truth is if you stick to the cities you will be fine and the ones you are most likely to see if any at all are huntsmans! yes they are pretty big but there harmless and they eat all the mozzies which will piss you off more than the spiders! to be honest when your out of the cities just check your socks and shoes etc butn its best not to leave them outside if possibe as that is how i got bitten. dont worry about the spiders its the sharks snakes crocodiles you want to be scared off have fun x

26.
Posted bywildfk(Respected Member 465 posts) 10y
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I spent most of my youth in UK and had to get my mother to remove spiders from the bath.I'm not in the slightest phobic of snakes but large insects are/were another thing for me. When I moved to Oz I decided that the only way to control my phobia was to find out everything I could about the creepie-crawlies,which as a keen amateur naturalist was not difficult. This I did and I found out a lot about Oz and Aussies too in the process. Most Aussies have a horror story about an Ausssie animal that ate/killed/ bit/stung a relative....but the longer you stay there you begin to hear the same story over again.....then you realise that it is a form of Urban myth....every family has to adopt one of these stories as their own...so take 'em with a pinch of salt.

the above descriptions of encounters with wildlife are pretty much what really happens or rather doesn't.....most of the wildlife in Oz is not in your face...an d most of it is wonderful too...even red-backs

they don;t live under every toilet seat, and white-tails don't cause necrosis ........huntsmen are big but not intrusive

on visiting England a few years later nmy mother pointed out a large house spider walking across the carpet knowing what my reaction would be (or thought it would be) I calmly picked it up and chucked it out of the widow...